A good number of the Iowa delegates at this convention have been to conventions before, or they’re elected officials or even lobbyists. “Jaded” or “cynical” might be words you’d use to describe them. But you’d never use those words to describe Joni Scotter of Cedar Rapids. She is a delegate who gets tears in her eyes when she talks about attending her first convention. “It is going to be the most exciting convention ever,” Scotter said with a hushed voice. “I never dreamed that I could be part of it and I am so excited and so honored to represent Linn County. It’s just the most wonderful adventure and you come into New York City and it’s like, whew, isn’t it awesome!” Scotter and a friend struck out on the town Saturday night, with dinner at a famous bistro, music at an exclusive club, a trip to the top of the Empire State Building and a midnight ride on the Staten Island ferry. “It was the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said. “Lady Liberty on our first night!” She was equally transfixed by Times Square. “We saw all these lights and all these people walking and I’m thinking ‘Oh my,’” she said. Scotter is almost overcome with emotion when she talks about the opportunity she’ll have here at the convention to see party luminaries like “The Governator” Arnould Schwartzenegger, former New York Mayor Rudy Guilliani and, of course, President Bush. Scotter will be sitting on the convention floor, in the front with the rest of the Iowa delegation, cheering her party’s big shots. “When you hear oooOOOOO, you’ll know it’s Joni from Iowa,” she said, laughing. Joni’s laugh is what distinguishes her from the rest of the delegates. You can pick Iowa GOP co-chair Leon Moseley of Waterloo out of a crowd, too, because he’s wearing a big old white cowboy hat. “Nobody will give me guff about my hat,” Moseley said, when asked about his signature headware. And on Sunday, Moseley was wearing a black marine t-shirt that read “Bad to the Bone.”
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